Chelsea are preparing for a summer of major moves in the transfer market as Mauricio Pochettino tries to revive the club after a poor end to the 2022/23 season.
Pochettino will be looking to trim his bloated squad on the back of record-breaking transfer spending by Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter across a whirlwind 12 months at Stamford Bridge.
The Argentinian boss will have a sizeable transfer budget to work with, but he will also need to raise funds via player sales as club owner Todd Boehly looks to reduce overall spending at the club.
Alongside the need to cut back on transfer outlays, Chelsea will also be looking to remain on the right side of UEFA and Premier League rules on finance, with the June 30 deadline looming large.
FFP role in Chelsea player sales
UEFA and the Premier League have differing rules and criteria on club finances and transfers with Europe's governing body looking to update their FFP rules from 2025 onwards.
Current UEFA rules on FFP margins allow clubs to incur losses of €60m ($65.5m) over a three-year period, an increase from the previous allowance of €30m per club.
In April 2022, UEFA announced that, from the 2025/26 season, clubs' spending on wages transfers and agents' fees would be capped at 70% of their overall revenue.
Additionally, UEFA and FIFA have worked to close a loophole on player transfer fees and contracts being spread over long periods in order to fall on the right side of these three-year windows.
Chelsea's January moves for Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez both involved huge fees to be paid to Shakhtar Donetsk and Benfica in annual instalments, with long contracts utilised to spread costs, and ensure Chelsea would have two FFP windows to pay what was owed.
The Premier League has its own version of FFP, which requires clubs to submit accurate financial information to the league annually, pay transfer fees and taxes on time and show that any losses can be adequately covered. The financial reporting structure is outlined in the Premier League handbook.
These changes have accelerated Chelsea's push to offload players, ahead of the end of the financial year on June 30, to ensure huge outlays are balanced against sales in the final tallies.
Chelsea outgoing transfers summer 2023
Chelsea have been busy in the opening weeks of the summer transfer window with the confirmed arrival of French international Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig.
However, it has been player sales which have ensured Chelsea remain in a positive net spend ahead of that crucial June deadline, with Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz heading to Manchester City and Arsenal respectively.
Senegalese duo Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly have also departed, with moves to Saudi Arabia, as the Middle East continues to attract star names in 2023.
Chelsea transfers summer 2023 IN
| Date | Player | Signing from | Fee |
| June 20, 2023 | Christopher Nkunku | RB Leipzig | £52m |
Chelsea transfers summer 2023 OUT
| Date | Player | Moving to | Fee |
| June 29, 2023 | Kai Havertz | RB Leipzig | £52m |
| June 29, 2023 | Edouard Mendy | Al Ahli | £16m |
| June 25, 2023 | Kalidou Koulibaly | Al Hilal | £20m |
| June 27, 2023 | Mateo Kovacic | Man City | £25m |
| June 21, 2023 | N'Golo Kante | Al Ittihad | Free |
Other players leaving Chelsea
Despite already raising in excess of £100m in player sales, Pochettino is likely to continue his squad reductions, as part of a financial balancing act at the club.
England international Mason Mount is set to be the next departure from Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea locked in talks with Manchester United over a potential £55m deal, with major doubts over the futures of Romelu Lukaku and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Are Chelsea selling players at a discount?
The speed of Chelsea's business in June has raised questions over the value involved in their player sales with rumours of discount rates being applied to outgoing stars.
However, the gap between market value and sale price has varied, as per data from Transfermrkt.
Havertz's move to Arsenal included a £13m/$16.4m mark up from his value with £12.6m/$15.9m extra gained from the combined sales of Mendy and Koulibaly to Al Ahli and Al Hilal.
Kovacic's switch to City is the only 'cut price' deal so far, with Pep Guardiola securing an agreement for the Croatian international for £7.8m/$9.8m less than his predicted value.
Chelsea squad 2023/24
Below is the confirmed squad for Chelsea ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
| Goalkeepers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Age | Nation |
| Kepa Arrizabalaga | 1 | 28 | SPA |
| Gabriel Slonina | 36 | 19 | USA |
| Marcus Bettinelli | 13 | 31 | ENG |
| Defenders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Age | Nation |
| Wesley Fofana | 33 | 22 | FRA |
| Benoit Badiashile | 4 | 22 | FRA |
| Trevoh Chalobah | 14 | 23 | ENG |
| Levi Colwill | - | 20 | ENG |
| Ethan Ampadu | - | 22 | WAL |
| Malang Sarr | - | 24 | FRA |
| Thiago Silva | 6 | 38 | BRA |
| Marc Cucurella | 32 | 24 | SPA |
| Ben Chilwell | 21 | 26 | ENG |
| Lewis Hall | 67 | 18 | ENG |
| Abdul-Rahman Baba | - | 28 | GHA |
| Reece James | 24 | 23 | ENG |
| Malo Gusto | - | 20 | FRA |
| Cesar Azpilicueta | 28 | 33 | SPA |
| Midfielders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Age | Nation |
| Enzo Fernandez | 5 | 22 | ARG |
| Tiemoue Bakayoko | - | 28 | FRA |
| Conor Gallagher | 23 | 23 | ENG |
| Ruben Loftus-Cheek | 12 | 27 | ENG |
| Andrey Santos | - | 19 | BRA |
| Carney Chukwuemeka | 30 | 19 | ENG |
| Mason Mount | 19 | 24 | ENG |
| Christopher Nkunku | - | 25 | FRA |
| Forwards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Age | Nation |
| Mykhaylo Mudryk | 15 | 22 | UKR |
| Raheem Sterling | 17 | 28 | ENG |
| Christian Pulisic | 10 | 24 | USA |
| Callum Hudson-Odoi | - | 22 | ENG |
| Noni Madueka | 31 | 21 | ENG |
| Hakim Ziyech | 22 | 30 | MOR |
| Romelu Lukaku | - | 30 | BEL |
| Armando Broja | 18 | 21 | ALB |
| David Datro Fofana | 27 | 20 | IVO |
| Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | 9 | 34 | GAB |
Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| Canada | — | |
| Hong Kong | — | Now TV |
| India | Star Sports | Disney+, Hotstar, JioTV |
| Malaysia | Astro SuperSport | Astro Go |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport | Sky Sport Now, Sky Go |
| Singapore | StarHub | StarHub TV+ |
| UK | Sky Sports, TNT Sports | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime |
| USA | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo |
Fubo, Peacock |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.
India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).
